Some welcome news from this state
November 2026
On November 12, Richard Glossip entered a plea agreement, pleading guilty to accessory after the fact in exchange for the prosecution dropping its first-degree murder charges against him for his alleged role in the 1997 “murder-for-hire” of Barry Van Treese, his boss at an Oklahoma City motel. Mr. Glossip was released in May 2026. as it was acknowledgment that evidence “does not support that he is guilty of first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt.” The state was set to go to trial on December 7, but with Mr. Glossip’s guilty plea, the state will proceed with sentencing on December 17.
Murder charge dismissed
Following the hearing, Mr. Glossip’s long-time attorney Don Knight released the following statement:
“For 30 years Richard Glossip has maintained his innocence. After nearly executing him nine times, the State of Oklahoma has now dismissed the murder charge against him. This morning, to finally put this matter to rest, Rich pleaded guilty to be an accessory after the fact. We believe Rich has more than paid his debt to society by spending nearly 30 years on death row, during which time he was served three last meals, and came within minutes of being executed for a crime he did not commit.” Mr. Knight added, “In 1997, had Rich been given the longest possible sentence for the crime he pled guilty to today, he would never have been on death row and would have been released ten years ago. We look forward to an opportunity to show why returning him to custody would not service the interests of justice, and to ending this nightmare for Rich and all concerned.”
Justin Sneed, a co-worker of Mr. Glossip’s, confessed to killing Mr. Van Treese but testified at trial that Mr. Glossip paid him to do so and helped cover up the killing. Mr. Sneed was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his involvement in the murder. Mr. Glossip was first sentenced to death in 1998, but his conviction was overturned in 2001. In 2004, the state again pursued a death sentence, and a jury sentenced him to death.
Important information not disclosed
An independent investigation carried out by the law firm Reed Smith previously found that Mr. Sneed discussed recanting his testimony over the course of a decade, both before and after Mr. Glossip’s 2004 conviction. A handwritten note from Mr. Sneed to his attorneys, states, “Do I have the choice of recanting at any time during my life?” An additional handwritten note indicates that Mr. Sneed believed his testimony to be a “mistake.” These notes were never given to Mr. Glossip’s defense team. Reed Smith’s investigation also included documentation of conversations between Mr. Sneed and Reed Smith lawyers in which he agreed that he talked with his mother and daughter about recanting his testimony, something he previously denied.
In a 5 – 3 decision issued in Glossip v Oklahoma on February 25, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Mr. Glossip’s 2004 conviction for arranging Mr. Van Treese’s murder, and ordered a new trial because prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information about the same witness. Writing for the majority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that prosecutors in Mr. Glossip’s case “violated [their] constitutional obligation to correct false testimony,” and thus, he “is entitled to a new trial.”
On June 9, 2025, AG Drummond announced his office would retry Mr. Glossip but would not seek the death penalty. The Attorney General’s office noted that the man who admitted to actually murdering Mr. Van Treese with a baseball bat, Mr. Sneed, is serving a sentence of life without parole. In a statement released following this announcement, AG Drummond said, “While it was clear to me and to the U.S. Supreme Court that Mr. Glossip did not receive a fair trial, I have never proclaimed his innocence.”
Glossip’s case illustrates the issue of failings or mistakes in the justice system could lead to someone being executed who should not be. He has received three last meals and is fortunate still to be alive.
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Amnesty is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. The Salisbury group publishes a report each month on the use of the penalty around the world. We are grateful to the Death Penalty Information Center for much of the text of this post. Further background can be found on the Oklahoman.
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